5 of 5 ~ Clearing the Legacy Gap

Pastor Greg concludes his series called “THE GAP: Clearing the space between who you are and who God created and called you to be.” This week he talks about the importance of leaving a legacy. He says: “Clearing the Legacy Gap is about working for a cause greater than yourself that will benefit someone other than yourself.”

MESSAGE NOTES

A legacy is something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.

Clearing the Legacy Gap is about working for a cause greater than yourself
that will benefit someone other than yourself.

Success isn’t just what YOU accomplish in YOUR life! It’s about what you INSPIRE OTHERS to do!

Etch your legacy on other lives! Don’t just etch your name on a tombstone!

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ~ Luke 10:1-3

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
~ John 15:15

And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. ~ Luke 9:1-2

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. ~ John 14:12

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ~ John 16:7

It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you can do alone. ~ Andrew Carnegie

THREE STEPS TO CLEARING THE LEGACY GAP

1) BUILD A TEAM/JOIN A TEAM

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. ~ Henry Ford

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ~ Romans 12:3-5

2) BE A MENTOR/FIND A PROTEGE

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ~ 2 Timothy 1:1-6

3) INTENTIONALLY SOW MORE THAN YOU PLAN TO REAP

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~ Nelson Henderson

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” ~ Mark 12:41-44

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. ~ Mark 10:29-30

GO DEEPERALOHA GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

READ:
Pastor Greg said in his message: A legacy is something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. Clearing the Legacy Gap is about working for a cause greater than yourself that will benefit someone other than yourself. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Does anything in this definition especially resonate with you? If so, what?
2) With that definition in mind, can you think of some people who have left a legacy for you? Who are they? What legacy did they leave? (Note: This will likely include many people you have never met, people who lived decades, centuries or even millennia before you were born, but also people from your life time.)

READ:
Pastor Greg shared highlights of Dr. Robin Dunbar’s work. If you recall, he says we all know a maximum of 1,500 faces we can match with names. He also states that we only develop significant relationships with 250 people in our life time and we can only maintain 150 of those at a deep level at one time.READ: John 15:15 and Luke 9:1-2DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Do you agree with these findings? Why or why not?
2) Dr. Dunbar and Pastor Greg both referred to the “inner circle” level of relationships. Typically this is a group of 10-15 people. Pastor Greg mentioned the twelve disciples were this “inner circle” group for Jesus. Who is in your “inner circle?” What makes them someone you want to keep close in this way?

READ: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Romans 12:3-5DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Where do you serve? (Church, Other Volunteer Organizations)
2) In what way(s) do you serve?
3) Why do you serve?
4) When you are on a team/committee, do you tend to do everything yourself or do you make sure to include others in your work? 6) Why is including others better for them and for the church?

READ: 2 Timothy 1:1-6DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Are you/have you ever been a mentor to anyone? Are you /have you ever been a protege to anyone?
2) Did you mentor speak to you with encouraging and uplifting words like Paul does with Timothy? What effect did their words and tone have on you and on your work?
3) Do you intentionally and regularly speak encouraging and uplifting words to your protege? Why or why not?
4) When it comes to the future ministry of Waikoloa Community Church, why is it so important that we continually attract the next generation and intentionally hand off ministry to them? What will happen if we don’t do that?

READ: 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 and Mark 12:41-44DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Is it easy for you or hard for you to give? Which is easiest and which is hardest for you to give, your time, your talents or your treasures? Why is it easy/hard?
2) What is your reason for giving this things? Why do you give?
3) Have you ever thought of your giving of your time, talents and treasures as “leaving a legacy?”
4) Does the idea of “leaving a legacy” appeal to you? Why or why not?
5) If no one “leaves a legacy” what happens in the future of a family, an organization, a nation, a company?

READ: Mark 10:29-30DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Pastor Greg pointed out that this verse is often misrepresented by prosperity preachers, who claim it means God will make you rich if you give to the church. Pastor Greg said instead Jesus is talking about increasing your legacy impact by 100 fold. Did you agree with Greg’s interpretation of the full context of this passage? Why or why not?
2) Have you seen this statement by Jesus proven in your own life, through your own sacrificial giving of your time, talents and treasures? In what way?
3) As you close in prayer, is God challenging you to give more in one or more of these categories, to help insure you clear the Legacy Gap?